Next to You by Julia Gabriel

Connor knowing she was sitting here alone with a nice dinner she’d prepared for two … epic humiliation.
    The back screen door squeaked on its hinges and Phlox snapped her head up. Jared was standing just inside, holding a bottle of wine in each hand—one red, one white.
    “Didn’t know what you were serving,” he said.
    Phlox almost fainted from the g forces her emotions were pulling. “You look nice,” she managed to eek out.
    He did look nice, in jeans and a button-down shirt neatly tucked in, flip flops on tan feet.
    “So do you,” he said.
    Her legs were shaky but she managed to stand up and find two wine glasses while Jared opened the bottle of cabernet. When she turned back from the cupboard, she found him staring thoughtfully at the range.
    “Yeah, that’s it. My nemesis.”
    "I wondered what happened to those floorboards."
    "You were the one who replaced them?"
    She set the glasses on the island and watched as he filled each one, expertly rolling the bottle so not even a drop of wine rolled down the outside of the neck. She recognized the winery on the silver label. It was a fifty-dollar bottle of wine.
    "Yeah. That was me."
    "Thank you. You can't even tell where they were fixed."
    "You're welcome." He handed her a glass of wine.
    She took a quick sip, then began scooping lasagna onto the plates. This was silly, being so nervous around him, but he affected her. Like he was rearranging molecules in the air around her.
    “This is the first time I’ve cooked anything since I got here. I’ve been using the oven and the microwave but I haven’t put a pot on the stove until today.”
    “You didn’t need to do that. Chinese takeout would have been fine.”
    “Yeah. I did need to do it. For me. But I wouldn’t have been able to eat all this by myself.” She smiled weakly. No matter how this evening turned out, at least she had gotten over her fear of using the kitchen.
    They carried their plates and wine to the table. She expected conversation with Jared to be like pulling teeth but he surprised her tonight. He spoke easily and without hesitation, asking her question after question about her company. How many products did they have? What was their first retail account? How many employees? Did they have overseas distribution, plans to sell direct to consumers from their own web site, dreams of going public?
    She laughed after several minutes of this. “You’re in the wrong line of work, Jared Connor. You should be working for CNBC or Bloomberg.” Then she felt bad as his cheeks reddened.
    “I’m sorry,” she apologized quickly. “I’m not used to talking about the company anymore. I used to do it all the time, before the accident, but I’ve been out of the public eye this past year. Zee has been shouldering all that for us.” She smiled a wry smile. “Zee has shouldered a lot this past year. I will owe her forever.”
    “A good partner, that’s probably important to a business.” Jared forked more lasagna into his mouth.
    Phlox felt awful now. She’d probably over-answered his questions. Why would a caretaker care about a skincare and cosmetics company? Well, a female caretaker would but not a guy. She glanced at his hands, which were as rough and callused as one might expect. Their Soft-As-A-Baby’s-Bum hand treatment balm would be perfect for him, though. She might ask Cherise to overnight a tube.
    “Zee and I were roommates in college. Her mother is the actress, Ginger Moon. She won an Oscar a few years back.”
    Jared nodded. “I think I saw that movie.”
    “Do you like movies?” Movies seemed like a more normal date topic than business. Not that this was a date or anything.
    Jared nodded again, taking a sip of wine. “But usually I wait until they come out on DVD or pay-per-view. I read a lot, too.”
    “Zee’s grandfather is Maxwell Malisewski, the author. You might have read his short stories in school.” Or maybe he hadn’t? Maybe he didn’t go to college. But he came